- Apr 22, 2014
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Update: left the 'lings in with the bigguns overnight, and nobody seems to be missing any feathers or anything! They're all foraging together in one big happy group, and they're so focused on that that no one's over bothering to henpeck the littles! Flock integration success!
YAY!!!! I would agree. They are "in" the flock. Now as they get older there might be pecking order disputes, but they usually aren't anything us people need to worry about (they will resolve it.)
I have experienced 3 merges so far:
1: Rhiannon joined the brooder 1 week late. The other 'lings were only 1-1/2 weeks old and were still pecking each other in the heads establishing order. 1 more 'ling pecking and getting pecked didn't make any difference.
2: The littles (most of my flock) joined the bigguns (Tella & Ettie). The brooder kids beat up the older ducks (but not too bad, they just let the old ones know that it was their yard).
3: Noir & Mystique joined the flock - Kaine wanted to kill them....

...until Tevye intervened on their behalf: (note in the second picture, Kaine's feet are up in the air and he was thrown into the wall of the gazebo.) This is the only time Tevye has ever stood up to Kaine and he beat Kaine's butt!
So anyway, in all three cases, once the ducks were "in" the flock, they were "in" the flock.